Writing in academic Slovene: state and origins of students' knowl-edge and skills

By using a survey and semi-structured interviewing our study showed that the majority of Slovene PhD students are satisfied with their Slovene academic writing skills, but admitted they could improve, for example, with regard to their use of typical academic vocabulary in its usual context; writing concisely and accurately; and producing characteristic sentences and phrases in accordance with specific sections of text. As for the origins of the skills in question, in students' opinion the most important way of learning how to write academic Slovene is by reading academic text during the entire course of study, as well as by writing term papers and similar assignments. Here – in PhD students' and supervisors' opinion – the role of teachers is very important, i.e. all teachers, not just linguists, should contribute to the excellence of students' knowledge of academic Slovene.